Like the Sea
by Rapunzel4
Summary: Michiru has a bad hair day.


Disclaimers: Sailor Moon's characters do not belong to me. Warnings: Shoujo ai, silliness  
  
Like the Sea  
  
By Rapunzel  
  
Sunlight awoke her, shining in her face with an intensity that not even her closed eyelids could ward off. Pushing back the covers, Michiru climbed out of bed, careful not to wake Haruka, who slept at her side. She knew perfectly well that her bedmate had no intentions of getting up until either her full bladder or empty stomach forced her to.  
  
Smiling to herself at her lover's ways, Michiru headed into the bathroom. She splashed some cold water onto her face to wake herself up, then straightened up and looked into the mirror above the sink.  
  
A bloodcurdling scream resounded through the house.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"What is it?" Usagi gasped as she arrived, panting with exertion, in front of the house the outers shared. She had to pause for a moment to catch her breath, since she had run all the way there. The other inners, who had arrived before her, waited patiently.  
  
"We're not sure," Ami replied. "All we have to go on is that rather unintelligible call from Haruka. We thought at first that they might be under attack, but I can't find anything out of the ordinary." She gestured with her small computer to emphasize the point.  
  
"Could you understand anything Haruka was saying to you?" Rei asked.  
  
"All I caught was something about Michiru and the door being locked," Makoto said.  
  
"Well, let's find out what's going on," Minako said, raising her hand and pounding on the door.  
  
A moment passed, but finally the door was opened by a rather frazzled looking Setsuna. Well, a Setsuna looking as frazzled as Setsuna ever looked, which wasn't saying much. "Oh, good, you're here," she said. As she stepped aside to let them in, she added, "I'm not sure who I should be asking you to deal with, Haruka or Michiru."  
  
"Setsuna-san, what's going on?" Ami asked.  
  
"We're not sure," Setsuna answered. "We got woken up this morning by Michiru screaming, but when we went to see what was wrong, she had locked the bathroom door and refused to open it for any of us. Haruka is frantic."  
  
"Frantic" didn't even come close to describing Haruka's mental state, as it turned out. The normally calm and sometimes cold woman was close to tears as she entreated, "Michiru, honey, please open the door!" She pressed one shoulder against the object in question, ignoring the new arrivals.  
  
Hotaru was sitting on the bed looking pale and frightened. "Haruka-papa's gone mad, hasn't she?" she whispered when she saw Setsuna.  
  
"Nonsense," Setsuna said coolly. "She's just worried because Michiru won't come out of the bathroom."  
  
"Do you even know if she's still in there?" Makoto asked, casting a dubious glance at the closed door.  
  
"She's in there," Setsuna said grimly.  
  
"I can hear her, but she won't talk to me!" Haruka wailed. "I don't know what's wrong; she never acts like this! Was it something I did?"  
  
"Do you think she's in any trouble?" Ami whispered, looking worried.  
  
Usagi stepped up to the bathroom door and tentatively knocked. "Michiru- san, won't you please open the door?"  
  
"Go away!" Michiru's voice came from within, sounding suspiciously like a sob.  
  
"Maybe we should break down the door," Makoto suggested.  
  
"Haruka already tried that," Setsuna said. "She couldn't get it open. We think Michiru must have shoved something up against it."  
  
"Well, we've got more people now," Makoto pointed out. "Let's try again."  
  
"Or," Ami said, "you could simply get a screw driver and unscrew the hinges to remove the door. It would take longer, but it would be less messy."  
  
"Haruka, go get your screwdriver," Setsuna ordered.  
  
Several minutes later, the last screw came out, and Haruka removed the door from its frame. After hastily shoving aside the vanity table, which Michiru had shoved against the door, she charged into the bathroom. And stopped dead.  
  
Michiru was sitting in the bathtub, dressed only in her nightgown. Tear streaks marred her face, and both of her hands were pressed to her head.  
  
"Michiru..." Haruka gasped in shock.  
  
"Your hair!" Usagi cried.  
  
"You dyed it," Rei said, eyebrows raised in surprise.  
  
"And it's not even a good dye job!" Minako added.  
  
Instead of its usual indeterminate blue-green color, Michiru's hair was now a dull shade of red.  
  
"I told you to go away!" Michiru wailed. "Haruka, don't look!"  
  
Haruka couldn't stop looking. Her jaw looked ready to hit the floor. "What have you done?!" she cried.  
  
"I didn't do anything!" Michiru responded. "It's that stupid red tide!"  
  
"Red tide?" Haruka repeated, confused.  
  
"I don't have any control over it!" Michiru said.  
  
Setsuna calmly walked into the bathroom, pushing past Haruka and heading to Michiru. She coolly hauled the young woman up out of the tub and steered her towards the bed. Once she had Michiru seated and had handed her a tissue, she said, "Explain."  
  
Sniffling, Michiru complied.  
  
"Well, you see, my hair has always been rather odd. Some people say it's blue, and some people say it's green. Most people just call it aquamarine because they can't make up their mind. But the truth is that it varies. Some days it's more bluish, some days it's green. It all depends on what the ocean looks like that day.  
  
"You see, because I'm from the planet of the sea, my hair naturally mimics the ocean. That's why it's wavy and the color that it is. Normally, this is a good thing. However, sometimes, it makes my hair do weird things. Sometimes when we have a really big rainstorm, my hair goes almost grayish, and it gets very hard to control. And when there's a red tide..." she trailed off, gesturing sadly at her colored hair. "It hasn't happened for a long time, but it's happening now."  
  
"That's right, there is a red tide right now," Minako said. "I remember because I wanted to go down to the beach and go swimming, but I can't."  
  
"But surely this is just temporary," Rei said, attempting to console Michiru.  
  
"I should hope so," Michiru sniffled. "I can't lock myself in the bathroom indefinitely."  
  
"You locked yourself in there over this?" Haruka asked.  
  
Michiru nodded. "I didn't want you to see me like this."  
  
Haruka sighed heavily and muttered, "All this trouble and bother over a little hair. I knew there was a reason I hacked mine off."  
  
Minako smacked Haruka's arm. "Don't be so insensitive!" she scolded. "Michiru-san can't go out looking like that!"  
  
"She's right," Michiru said miserably.  
  
"So, you don't go out for a little while. I don't see what the problem is."  
  
"But Haruka-san," Ami protested, "red tides can last for several days, sometimes even weeks. You can't expect her to stay inside for so long."  
  
"Wait," Makoto said. "I have an idea."  
  
-Fifteen Minutes Later-  
  
"Don't worry," Makoto said cheerily. "No one will notice this way." She finished putting up Michiru's hair and put one of Haruka's bandanas over it so that it wasn't visible.  
  
"But I never wear bandanas," Michiru protested.  
  
"So, you put a hat on over it," Makoto said.  
  
Michiru rose and went over to her closet. Soon, she emerged wearing a light colored, broad brimmed hat. "Do I look okay?"  
  
All the girls nodded in unison and told her she looked great.  
  
"Haruka?" Michiru turned to her girlfriend.  
  
Nodding quickly, Haruka said, "Fabulous."  
  
Michiru gave her a watery smile.  
  
After they had seen the other girls out and thanked them profusely, Michiru set about cooking breakfast. She felt rather odd wearing a hat indoors, but was reluctant to take it off.  
  
/Oh well,/ she thought. /It's only for a few more days./  
  
~*~*~  
  
Yawning, Haruka stumbled out into the living room. It was far too early for sensible human beings to be up, in her opinion, but Michiru had insisted, saying that she had something planned. After the several miserable days she had spent with her hair turned red, Haruka was reluctant to rain on her parade now that things were back to normal. Fumbling around, Haruka managed to turn on the radio, hoping that the noise would help her wake up.  
  
"In other news, swimmers are advised to stay home for a few days, since a massive oil spill has occurred near the coast..."  
  
Haruka's eyes widened upon hearing that. "Uh oh."  
  
From the bathroom came a bloodcurdling scream.  
  
Owari 


End file.
